Elaine McMillion Sheldon grew up in West Virginia. She knows what happens when national media swoops in.

"That's one of the reasons I'm still here making work," she said.

Sheldon, who won a Peabody Award for her interactive documentary on McDowell County, "Hollow," said it was her responsibility to tell "a more complex story" about West Virginia's opioid crisis.

"Heroin(e)," which Netflix released Sept. 12, has bleak moments. In one particularly haunting scene, Sheetz customers continue to check out while paramedics revive a person who has overdosed on the floor.

But it's hopeful, as well. "Heroin(e)" focuses on the work of three women: Jan Rader, Huntington's fire chief, Necia Freeman, of Brown Bag Ministries, and Judge Patricia Keller, a family court judge who runs a drug court.

"I don't really see an end to this crisis where we are right now, but I think these three women provide the hope we need to start this conversation," Sheldon said.

Rader talks in the film about losing a couple of generations to the opioid crisis and about how Huntington first responders treat several overdoses each day.

In a later scene, one woman shows Keller her recovery coach business card. In another, Rader tells Mickey Watson, a recovering addict, that the number of overdose deaths in 2016 will likely exceed 80, and he tells her 2016 is the first year he didn't overdose.

"I think Huntington has been hit really hard because they've been transparent," Sheldon said. "They invited media to come in. That has resulted in a lot of really negative imagery coming out of Huntington. It's all very real. It's not fake. But it hasn't really focused on the solution."

"Heroin(e)," which was funded by the Center for Investigative Reporting, focuses on "people who are working on change rather than focusing on those who are trapped in addiction," Sheldon said.

Sheldon said, as a West Virginian who has friends and former classmates who have been affected by the opioid crisis, she needed hope.

"These women inspired me," she said. "They get up every day and fight this battle in their own special way. I think the women needed it, too."

All three women said they've been overwhelmed by the positive response.

"I was at Lowe's today, and some woman ran down the hallway to hug me," Freeman said, like "a long-lost cousin I'd never seen before."

One of her friends called her a big dreamer.

"I said heck no," she said. "I could never dream this big."

Freeman offers Bibles and support to local sex workers who struggle with addictions. She said it's hard that her "private little thing" is now out in the open.

"It means I have to let my baby go a little bit. That's kind of hard," she said. "It's like a mother letting her baby go to school for the first day."

Freeman said her belief "is that these girls' lives can be changed, if they turn their lives over to Christ."

"I just hope that's what the people see," she said.

Keller said, since the documentary premiered, she has heard from people in recovery, thanking her for what she does. She said while she has seen "a lot of good, we still lose a lot of people, and it breaks your heart." So the well wishes help.

"It makes you feel better," she said.

Keller has heard from people who want to donate. She's also heard from people working to end the opioid crisis in their own communities.

"It lets you know that we're not alone doing this," she said.

She said it was "nice to have something that's not just focused on the negative."

"I think that was very important to Elaine, to show the real West Virginia spirit that we have here, and people in other parts of the world may not be as familiar with that," Keller said.

"She's an insider. I don't think anybody from the outside could have done what Elaine did," Rader said. "She's telling stories, but she's looking for the positive aspect to a very serious epidemic that's multifaceted. Hats off to her, because people need the positive twist. They need a cheerleader, and Elaine's their cheerleader."

Rader has received about 150-200 mostly positive messages.

"I think people are getting tired of hearing just let them die or give them three strikes," she said. "I think people mostly say it out of frustration and ignorance. I certainly didn't have a good understanding of it years ago, either, but I have learned from being in the trenches."

She said it typically takes about seven or eight relapses to reach recovery.

"You have to look hard to see positives when you're on the front line," Rader said. "You treat them during the crisis, then you walk away."

When she began working with the mayor's Office of Drug Control Policy, she began to see more happy endings to the story. That meant "listening to their side of the story and putting on a listener's hat," she said.

"I took an oath as a nurse and firefighter to save life and property," she said. "That's what I intend to do. There's no clause that says when it gets hard give up and throw in the towel. I might be a little bit stubborn, but I always think there's a way around the hurdle. Obviously the ways we've been fighting the war on drugs have not been productive in 40-plus years. The beauty of where we are right now is we can operate with no fear of failure. I can try different things and approaches."

"What it comes down to is basic humanity," Rader said.

"Mickey [Watson]'s going to save many lives," she said. "He's going to save more lives than I ever dreamed of. Necia, she's my own personal hero."

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Review: 'Stronger' a heart-wrenching story of survivalhttp://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170921/GZ0606/170929919
GZ0606http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170921/GZ0606/170929919Thu, 21 Sep 2017 14:43:37 -0400By Lindsey Bahr
The Associated Press
By By Lindsey Bahr
The Associated Press
"Stronger " is about a survivor but it is not a feel-good movie.

In 2013, 27-year-old Jeff Bauman went to watch his ex-girlfriend, Erin Hurley, run the Boston Marathon. He was there when the bombs went off and lost both of his legs as a result. An Associated Press photograph of Bauman, bloodied and gravely injured, being wheeled away from the site by a man in a cowboy hat became an instant icon of that terrorist attack.

But the attack is not the focus here.

It's the story of the aftermath that director David Gordon Green tells in "Stronger," based on Bauman's co-written memoir, and it is raw, ugly and painful to watch at times. There is alcoholism, bitterness, suffering and pain. Hope is something that's merely projected on him from the outside. He feels none of it.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Bauman as a regular local guy with an affable demeanor. We meet him for a brief moment in his ordinary life - ending his shift at Costco to rush to watch the Red Sox game (or "sawks" game) at a bar, get wasted with his good-time Charlie friends and try to make overtures to his ex (Tatiana Maslany), who hasn't been responding to his texts.

Green films these early scenes like it's the beginning of a rom-com. When Bauman goes to the finish line, poster in hand to be there for Hurley, the music is bouncy and hopeful and he has a silly grin on his face, proud of himself for "showing up" - his usual inability to do so being what ended their relationship in the first place.

Hurley, who hadn't quite made it to the finish when the bombs went off, sees Bauman on the television and rushes to his side in the hospital. Maslany, a subtle but powerful actress, has the ability to tug at your heartstrings with just the quiver of her chin.

Inside the hospital is a harrowing experience. Bauman's family is loud and brash (an unflattering and classist depiction of people in crisis that gets exaggerated as the movie goes on). Hurley is pointedly uncomfortable, not knowing her place in all of this but feeling a responsibility to be there nonetheless. And then there's Bauman, who is in excruciating pain. Green films Gyllenhaal's agony in close-up as the doctors change the dressing on his wounds.

It only gets worse back at home, a tiny, run-down apartment he shares with his drunk mother, Patty (Miranda Richardson), who always has a glass of white wine in her hand and who can't comprehend, or doesn't want to deal with, her son's PTSD. The film indulges in showing Bauman's hardships and the unique trauma of his public celebrity. He can't quite comprehend how losing his legs has become an inspiration to so many.

He drinks, he yells, he cries, he misses therapy sessions, he reluctantly attends public events to be a mascot of hope for "Boston Strong," he hits his head a lot and he and Hurley's relationship vacillates violently throughout - she moves in, they get back together, he disappoints again - culminating in a distressing shouting match in a car.

It is, in many ways, an anti-Hollywood movie with a fittingly complicated ending. The movie cuts off on a positive note in their relationship, with them together and expecting a child. In real life, Bauman and Hurley divorced earlier this year. But this movie is not a love story. It's about the sometimes ugly truth behind a symbol. And the most powerful moment comes late in the film with the man in the cowboy hat.

The resilience of humans is something that will never cease to amaze - especially as terrorist attacks continue and natural disasters devastate communities and lives. That "Stronger," as unpleasant as it is, doesn't shy away from the complicated side of recovery is admirable to say the least. It couldn't have come at a more poignant time, either.

"Stronger," a Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for "language throughout, some graphic injury images, and brief sexuality/nudity." Running time: 119 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

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Review: 'Kingsman' sequel lacks punch, vibe of first filmhttp://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170921/GZ0606/170929920
GZ0606http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170921/GZ0606/170929920Thu, 21 Sep 2017 14:42:37 -0400By Mark Kennedy
The Associated Press
By By Mark Kennedy
The Associated Press
In the first film about a secret spy group known as Kingsman, we learned they are well-dressed, courtly and perfectly groomed. But by the second film, there's a decidedly ungentlemanly whiff about them - of desperation.

"Kingsman: The Golden Circle" comes three years after the first leg in the Matthew Vaughn-directed franchise - and it bodes poorly for the expected third. This sequel is an overlong, labored affair that lacks the fizz of its predecessor. Even an insane cameo by Elton John - in his full feather and rhinestone glory - can't save it.

For anyone needing a refresher, the Kingsman movies are based on a series of comic books by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons that centers on British upper crust spies who combine a fondness for bespoke tailoring with the lethality of James Bond. They hang out in a Saville Row tailor shop, sip tea, are fitted for 007-like gadgets and save the world in secret.

The first film introduced the working class Eggsy (Taron Egerton) as a potential recruit who is championed by Kingsman leader Colin Firth, despite the younger man's crudeness and ill-breeding. He proved his mettle by foiling a diabolical plan hatched by a billionaire internet entrepreneur played by Samuel L. Jackson, whose weird lisp outlasted its welcome.

The charm of the first film was the way it straddled the line between celebrating spy movies and mocking them. It had a winking, self-aware humor. Plus, the action sequences were absolutely stunning, with cameras doing 360-degree turns, cool slo-mos and acrobatic fight choreography. The humor has worn off by the second, even if the camerawork is still spectacular. The music is very good, too, from the use of Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" to making John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" into a stirring anthem.

In the sequel , the Kingsman headquarters is under attack and survivors are forced to flee to their distant American cousins - Statesman, a similar spy agency hidden in a Kentucky whiskey brewery. Firth is back and sorely missed as the Kingsman leader. The trouble is we watched him die in the first film and having him resurrected seems weak.

The solid Egerton and the always excellent Mark Strong are back as Kingsmen, and Julianne Moore takes over from Jackson as the evil mastermind, a drug kingpin with a love for old-fashioned diners. She proves deliciously campy in her controlled ferocity. Cross her and you'll end up in a meat grinder. Your successor will likely munch on you in a hamburger, yum.

On the Yankee side, Channing Tatum has obviously been cynically added for pure eye candy appeal and he misses most of the movie, anyway. A subdued Halle Berry seems to be in another project entirely, one quiet and introspective.

Jeff Bridges, as the leader of the American team, may have signed on simply to be able to sample the free bourbon. Pedro Pascal, in a cowboy hat and mustache, plays his part as a misogynistic spy like he's a member of "Anchorman." Speaking of casting, why are there so many dogs in this film? Like, WAY too many dogs - puppies, old dogs, stuffed and even robotic.

If the first film drew its magic from a "My Fair Lady"-like attempt by Firth to prove breeding doesn't determine gallantness, the sequel lacks a central idea. The British-American divide in spy styles is soon abandoned and a sometimes overly heavy debate over the war on drugs drags the film in a darker direction.

Elton John adds some much-needed light as a hostage forced to entertain his captors, who use two ferocious robot dogs called Bennie and Jet (get it?). His "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" gets used perfectly - during a cool fight sequence.

But overall this sequel suffers from sequel-itis - a big-budget movie that rushes from Italian mountains to Cambodian rain forests but has lost the spark of its predecessor. The best moments are actually when it pays homage to the first film. The worst are when it takes itself too seriously, the trap of the very spy films it was designed to mock.

But let's be gentlemanly: For a film series that cherishes the proverb "manners maketh man," let's just say "rotten luck, old sport. Better luck next time."

"Kingsman: The Golden Circle," a Twentieth Century Fox release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America "for violence and language." Running time: 141 minutes. Two stars out of four.

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Huntington hosts Fall International Film Festival this weekendhttp://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170921/GZ06/170929933
GZ06http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170921/GZ06/170929933Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:01:00 -0400 Bill Lynch
By Bill Lynch
The Fall International Film Festival returns to the Keith-Albee Theater in Huntington today through Sunday, bringing a range of award-winning foreign films and one American documentary, "Atomic Homefront," that shines light on something that may be affecting millions of people.

Directed by Rebecca Cammisa, the documentary, which shows Saturday at 2:45 p.m. and Sunday at 7:35 p.m., takes place in the suburbs of St. Louis.

During and after the Manhattan Project, a uranium processing plant in St. Louis produced radioactive material to be used in bombs. The remaining nuclear and toxic waste was then transported and dumped in a local landfill where it is believed to have contaminated the area.

Over the following decades, residents have suffered from rare diseases, birth defects and cancers, likely brought on by sustained exposure to low-level radiation.

A few years ago, an underground fire began to slowly burn its way across the landfill toward an area heavy with atomic waste, threatening to release even more radioactive particles into the surrounding area.

"Atomic Homefront" centers around a group of women struggling against officials and the local waste management company, but this wasn't the film Cammisa intended to make at first.

"This wasn't going to be a film about people fighting for justice, but that's what it ended up being," she said. "We wanted to get a full picture, talk with everybody, and hear from all parties about this decades-long problem."

Cammisa said she and her crew spent over six months in the area and returned several times for key events to complete their story.

The people affected most by the contamination were willing to talk. The people who could maybe do something about it weren't.

Government agencies, elected officials and corporate executives shied away from Cammisa's cameras.

"Only the Army Corps of Engineers was willing to go on camera," she said.

While it might be easy to look at "Atomic Homefront" as an isolated event, Cammisa said radioactive exposure is larger than one community. It's nationwide and most people don't even know it's coming.

During the early years of the atomic arms race, dozens of sites across the country were used to dump radioactive material. The specific locations were kept secret for years, even from the communities where the dumping occurred, said Cammisa.

Several years ago, The Wall Street Journal created the Waste Lands project, which cataloged and identified more than 500 sites that had been involved in the atomic energy program and were considered for potential cleanup from the Department of Energy's Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program.

"So, many places may be dealing with legacy radiation," she said.

That might even include West Virginia, Cammisa added.

The website lists and gives details about locations in Wood County and Huntington.

Both locations operated in the 1950s and early 1960s. Both were later demolished and deemed safe, but so was the landfill in St. Louis.

Remediation and relief have been slow because of a lack of interest and funds, Cammisa said.

"This is a no end in sight situation," she said. "If the government and corporations were interested, this would have been handled. It would have been taken care of decades ago."

If there was something someone watching her documentary should take away, Camissa said it was for people to take a closer look at what has happened on their own land.

5:30 p.m. "Frantz" (France/Germany)

7:45 p.m. "The Finest" (UK)

5:30 p.m. "Land of Mine" (Denmark)

7:45 p.m. "The Salesman" (Iran)

12:30 p.m. "Fire at Sea" (Italy)

2:45 p.m. "Atomic Homefront" (US)

5:30 p.m. "The Finest" (UK)

7:45 p.m. "Frantz" (France/Germany)

12:30 p.m. "Fire at Sea" (Italy)

2:45 p.m. "The Salesman" (Iran)

5:30 p.m. "Land of Mine" (Denmark)

7:45 p.m. "Atomic Homefront" (US)

All shows at the Keith-Albee Theater, 925 Fourth Avenue, Huntington.

Tickets $10.00 per film. For more information call 304-696-6656. To view movie trailers and to download film schedule visit www.marshallartistsseries.org.

Reach Bill Lynch at lynch@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5195 or follow @LostHwys on Twitter. He's also on Instagram at instagram.com/billiscap.

"KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE": HH When Kingsman's headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, their journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the U.S. called Statesman, dating back to the day they were both founded. RATED R. N, M, TV, PP

"FRIEND REQUEST": H When a college student unfriends a mysterious girl online, she finds herself fighting a demonic presence that wants to make her lonely by killing her closest friends. Rated R. N, PP, M, TV

"THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE": HHH The battle for NINJAGO City calls to action young Master Builder Lloyd, aka the Green Ninja, along with his friends, who are all secret ninja warriors. Led by Master Wu, as wise-cracking as he is wise, they must defeat evil warlord Garmadon, The Worst Guy Ever, who also happens to be Lloyd's dad. Rated PG. N, PP, TV, M

"AMERICAN ASSASSIN": HHH Follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) a CIA black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military and civilian targets. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"HOME AGAIN": HH Life for a single mom in Los Angeles takes an unexpected turn when she allows three young guys to move in with her. Rated PG-13. M, N, PP.

"IT": HHHH A group of bullied kids band together when a monster, taking the appearance of a clown, begins hunting children. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"ALL SAINTS": HHH Based on the inspiring true story of salesman-turned-pastor Michael Spurlock (John Corbett), the tiny church he was ordered to shut down, and a group of refugees from Southeast Asia. Together, they risked everything to plant seeds for a future that might just save them all. Rated PG. N.

"WIND RIVER": HHHH An FBI agent teams with a town's veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD": HHH The world's top bodyguard gets a new client, a hit man who must testify at the International Court of Justice. They must put their differences aside and work together to make it to the trial on time. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"LOGAN LUCKY": HHHH Two brothers attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina. Rated PG-13. M, N, PP, TV.

"ANNABELLE: CREATION": HHH Several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the dollmaker's possessed creation, Annabelle. Rated R. M, TV.

"THE GLASS CASTLE": HHHH A young girl comes of age in a dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads with a mother who's an eccentric artist and an alcoholic father who would stir the children's imagination with hope as a distraction to their poverty. Rated PG-13. M, PP.

"SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING": HHHH Several months after the events of "Captain America: Civil War," Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens while fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges. Rated PG-13. N, PP, TV.

"DESPICABLE ME 3": HHH Gru meets his long-lost charming, cheerful and more successful twin brother, Dru, who wants to team up with him for one last criminal heist. Rated PG. TV.

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Review: Jennifer Lawrence stuns in the audacious 'mother!'http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170914/GZ0606/170919813
GZ0606http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170914/GZ0606/170919813Thu, 14 Sep 2017 14:49:49 -0400By Lindsey Bahr
The Associated Press
By By Lindsey Bahr
The Associated Press
Women give, men take and the Old Testament crashes into modern anxiety in director Darren Aronofsky's "mother!" It is an audacious, bold and fascinating fever dream of a film. It's allegory for, well, everything (the environment, marriage, art, spirituality, you name it!), that will challenge, distress and edify anyone who chooses to submit themselves to this creation for two hours.

Like many Aronofsky endeavors, "mother!" is a film doesn't fit neatly into one genre. It starts out as one thing, a sort of psychological thriller and chamber drama about a couple living in a stately and remote home, and devolves gradually and then very suddenly into jaw-dropping chaos that almost seems to be testing the viewer. How much of Jennifer Lawrence's suffering can you take before covering your eyes? Or storming out of the theater? "Mother!" will get under your skin, that's a guarantee.

This film begs for a viewing unencumbered by lengthy summarization. It's not that it defies explanation, what happens is fairly straightforward as far as nightmare logic is concerned. But the less you know the better.

The setting is a grand Victorian home, plopped down in the middle of a field surrounded by trees. There lives a married couple (Lawrence and Javier Bardem), and it is peaceful and bright. It is an Eden dressed in Restoration Hardware linens that Lawrence's character (who is credited as "Mother" but never called that) has rebuilt for her husband (credited as Him) from wall to wall after a devastating fire burned it to the ground. She is earthy and quiet and perches her head to the wall to listen to the beating heart of the home in order to find the right shade of yellow for the space.

And then one night, a strange man (Ed Harris) comes to the door. Bardem's character, a famous poet suffering from extreme writer's block, invites him in, and the paradise Mother has so painstakingly created begins to crumble. The next day, the man's wife (a wickedly funny Michelle Pfeiffer) shows up too. Mother, while trying to be polite and a good hostess and still continue restoring her house, is also understandably bewildered by the sudden changes and her own husband's apparent disinterest in her objections to these strangers occupying their home.

For all the stress and anxiety that "mother!" will inspire in viewers, this section is really quite funny, human and relatable as Mother grapples with her absent husband and rude houseguests who drink their liquor and break their valuables and ask invasive questions about why she doesn't yet have children.

It is a host's worst nightmare, and it only gets worse for poor Mother - the only sane person around who of course is predestined to be driven crazy by everyone else. Aronofsky has a special appreciation for hyperbolic depictions of female madness and suffering, whether it's an aging woman looking to lose a few pounds in "Requiem for a Dream," a ballerina striving for perfection in "Black Swan," or a wife just looking to make an impeccable home for the person she loves in "mother!"

It is a tense and exciting film - one of Aronofsky's best - and Lawrence has never been better. Hers is a truly stunning and elevated performance full of beauty, empathy and rage at her own powerlessness and the greed and apathy spiraling out of control around her.

"Mother!" demands to be seen more than once, and afterward discussed and dissected. I'd also recommend taking a look at the credits to see the names of the other characters who come into their lives.

My heart has not stopped its anxious pounding, nor my head from spinning since seeing this film.

Mother, may I have a Xanax?

"mother!" a Paramount Pictures release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for "strong disturbing violent content, some sexuality, nudity and language." Running time: 121 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

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Review: 'American Assassin' introduces a new action herohttp://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170914/GZ0606/170919814
GZ0606http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170914/GZ0606/170919814Thu, 14 Sep 2017 14:45:49 -0400By Sandy Cohen
The Associated Press
By By Sandy Cohen
The Associated Press
Mitch Rapp is an action hero in the vein of Jack Ryan or John McClane: an impossibly tough and determined everyday guy out to save the world.

Dylan O'Brien brings a youthful freshness to that archetype in "American Assassin," his first leading-man role and the first big-screen adaptation of Vince Flynn's series of Rapp novels. The character is scrappy and outspoken, rebellious and single-minded, and a skilled wielder of all manner of weapons.

But Rapp is first seen onscreen as a starry-eyed lover in Ibiza about to propose to his girlfriend. Their idyllic moment is ruined when terrorists storm the beach and Rapp's fiancée ends up among the dead.

Flash forward 18 months and Rapp is a bearded recluse in Rhode Island, where he's been studying Arabic, mastering firearms and practicing martial arts. He plans to take out the terror kingpin responsible for the Ibiza attack. But his clandestine training catches the eye of a CIA recruiter (Sanaa Lathan), who brings Rapp in as a counterterrorism operative.

From there, the story jumps around multiple international destinations as Rapp undergoes advanced training with the humorless Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton) and onto a mission to recover a heap of stolen plutonium. Iranian forces intend to make a nuclear weapon to attack Israel. But an American mercenary and former student of Hurley's known as Ghost (Taylor Kitsch) is also involved, and he has his own ideas about how the plutonium should be used.

Further complicating the story are the various double-agents involved and an apparently complex yet unexplained history between Ghost and Hurley. But no matter: O'Brien is wonderful to watch, a convincing action star with perfectly tousled hair. He brings a sensitivity to Rapp that balances his brutality, making him easy to root for, even if he doesn't always follow the rules.

Keaton's Hurley is practically forgettable until a staggering scene near the film's end that shows just how crazy his character is.

As often happens with these international thrillers, plot holes are compensated for with action and spectacular settings. "American Assassin" takes viewers to Italy, Romania, Poland, Libya and Turkey, along with various locations in the U.S.

But Rapp is an interesting guy, and "American Assassin" is his origin story. Unfortunately, in setting up for a sequel, the film's ending goes too far, essentially trading Rapp's newly established gravitas for superhero shtick.

"American Assassin," a CBS Films/Lionsgate release, is rated R for "strong violence throughout, some torture, language and brief nudity." Running time: 111 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

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Vietnam seen through West Virginians' eyeshttp://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170914/GZ06/170919849
GZ06http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170914/GZ06/170919849Thu, 14 Sep 2017 07:51:00 -0400 Douglas Imbrogno
By Douglas Imbrogno
Per capita, a higher percentage of West Virginians served and died in the Vietnam War than any other state, notes Suzanne Higgins, who has written and produced the one-hour documentary "Vietnam: West Virginians Remember."

The documentary will air on West Virginia Public Broadcasting at 8 p.m. today, with encore presentations at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 and 24, along with public screenings across the state.

The documentary coincides with the national release of "The Vietnam War," a 10-part, 18-hour documentary film series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, set to premiere on public broadcasting starting Sept. 17.

According to the West Virginia Encyclopedia, 36,578 West Virginians served in the Vietnam War with 1,182 killed, which was a higher death rate per 10,000 citizens than other states.

The documentary makes the point that everyone had their own perspective on the war, she added. Not everyone felt disillusioned and disengaged afterwards, said Higgins. "But many did."

It depended on your assignment, she said.

"Only a fraction were out front under fire the majority of their tour. Many were stationed back on base, had other supporting and very vital assignments, but weren't out in front with an assignment to draw enemy fire."

The combat solder's assignment was to attract enemy fire and then a radio operator would call in for air support, she said.

"That kind of stress, tension, walking in jungles that are booby trapped, that are riddled with tunnels where the enemy just disappears - that plays havoc on your psyche. That leaves scars," she said.

Among the servicemen profiled and their years of service are: Dave Evans, U.S. Marine Corps, 1969-1971; Mossie Wright, U.S Army, 1969-1970; Lou Nutter, U.S. Army, 1971-1972; Paul Casto, U.S. Marine Corps, 1967-1969; Stephen Coonts, U.S. Navy, Vietnam 1969-1971; and Ed Rabel, a CBS News war correspondent, who grew up in St. Albans.

Dave Evans lost both his legs after encountering an explosive booby-trap along a rice paddy dike. Evans has spent the last 30 years traveling to war-torn countries, fitting victims of war with prosthetic limbs.

"I went there [Vietnam] wanting to defend the Constitution and I believe my activity in the anti-war movement when I returned was also in defense of the U.S. Constitution," Evans told Higgins.

"When you send an 18-year-old kid to war and they cross that bridge from peacetime into wartime, there's no way they ever come back," said Evans. "There's no way. That bridge is burnt. You've changed forever."

nnn

"Vietnam: West Virginians Remember" will be screened at:

n Bluefield High School, 535 West Cumberland Road, Bluefield.

Thursday, 6:30 p.m.

Contact: Steve Hopta, 304-320-1572

n Concord University

Friday, 2 p.m.

Concord's Fine Arts Theater, Athens, W.Va.

Contact: Chuck Elliott, 304-384-5334

n WVU-Parkersburg

Sept. 21, 6 p.m.

WVU-P College Activities Center

Contact: Jeff Olson 304-549-4599

Panel discussion with college representatives and local veterans.

n WVU-Parkersburg

Sept. 21, 6 p.m.

WVU-P College Activities Center

Contact: Jeff Olson 304-549-4599

Will include a panel discussion with college representatives and local veterans.

n WVU Libraries

Sept. 27, 4 p.m.

Mountainlair Gluck Theater, 1549 University Ave, Morgantown, W.Va.

Contact: Danielle Emerling, 304-293-2574.

Will include a round-table discussion with WVU faculty members and Suzanne Higgins, documentary producer.

"AMERICAN ASSASSIN":Follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) a CIA black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military and civilian targets. Together the three discover a pattern in the violence leading them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent (Shiva Negar) to stop a mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent on starting a World War in the Middle East. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"HOME AGAIN": Life for a single mom in Los Angeles takes an unexpected turn when she allows three young guys to move in with her. Rated PG-13. M, N, PP.

"IT": A group of bullied kids band together when a monster, taking the appearance of a clown, begins hunting children. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"ALL SAINTS": Based on the inspiring true story of salesman-turned-pastor Michael Spurlock (John Corbett), the tiny church he was ordered to shut down, and a group of refugees from Southeast Asia. Together, they risked everything to plant seeds for a future that might just save them all. Rated PG. M, N.

"LEAP": A one year experiment seeks to discover whether coaching can help ordinary people achieve extraordinary things. Rated PG. M, N, PP.

"WIND RIVER": An FBI agent teams with a town's veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"WONDER WOMAN": HHHH Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained warrior. When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, she leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny. Rated PG-13. N.

The world's top bodyguard gets a new client, a hit man who must testify at the International Court of Justice. They must put their differences aside and work together to make it to the trial on time. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

Two brothers attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina. Rated PG-13. M, N, PP, TV.

"ANNABELLE: CREATION": HHH Several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the dollmaker's possessed creation, Annabelle. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"THE GLASS CASTLE":HHHH A young girl comes of age in a dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads with a mother who's an eccentric artist and an alcoholic father who would stir the children's imagination with hope as a distraction to their poverty. Rated PG-13. M, PP.

"THE DARK TOWER": HHH1/2 The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim, also known as the Man in Black, determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black. Rated PG-13. TV.

"THE EMOJI MOVIE": HHH Gene, a multi-expressional emoji, sets out on a journey to become a normal emoji. Rated PG. M, PP, TV.

"DUNKIRK": HHHH1/2 Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II. Rated PG-13. TV.

"SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING": HHHH Several months after the events of "Captain America: Civil War," Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens while fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges. Rated PG-13. N, PP, TV.

"DESPICABLE ME 3": HHHGru meets his long-lost charming, cheerful and more successful twin brother, Dru, who wants to team up with him for one last criminal heist. Rated PG. TV.

A decade after former Vice President Al Gore's documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth" brought the topic of climate change to a worldwide audience, "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power" takes up what has happened in the intervening years.

The recently released documentary will be screened locally as part of an event starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Park Place Stadium Cinemas, 600 Washington St. E. The evening is sponsored by the West Virgina International Film Festival, the West Virginia Citizens Action Group and the West Virginia chapter of the Citizens' Climate Lobby. Admission is $5.50.

In the film, cameras follow Gore around the world as he argues that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.

The evening begins with a performance by the Montclaire String Quartet with bassist Hanna Pressley and vocalist Betsy Bare, featuring a performance of Jean Ritchie's "Now Is the Cool of the Day," transcribed by Charleston composer and musician Matt Jackfert.

After the documentary screens, there will be short talks. Broken government is a subject of the movie and in keeping with that theme, Ben Adams of The Calwell Practice will speak briefly about the West Virginia segment of the Children's Atmospheric Trust Litigation.

"The concept of the Trust is that young people have a stake in a sustainable environment, that they are entitled to the same benefits of a healthy atmosphere as the people that have come before them," said Regan Quinn of the Citizen's Climate Lobby and the WVIFF. "That's a very well established principle of law that has been in existence since the time of the Romans and there plenty of precedents in American jurisprudence."

"We hope to bring together people who are alarmed at our government inaction in the face of increasing threats from climate change," said Becky Park, Charleston group leader of the Citizens' Climate Lobby.

A Variety magazine reviewer said of the film: "An Inconvenient Sequel" [is] ... a movie that might have been designed to answer the current rollback of environmental policy - and to address America's backing out of the Paris Climate Accord."

Tickets can be purchased at the Park Place box office and online at the cinema's website.

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After WV Film Office closed, tourism tasked with helping tell state's storyhttp://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170908/GZ0606/170909735
GZ0606http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170908/GZ0606/170909735Fri, 8 Sep 2017 08:58:00 -0400 Douglas Imbrogno
By Douglas Imbrogno
When "The Glass Castle" premiered in Welch on Aug. 11, part of what it showcased - besides the state of West Virginia - was the behind-the-scenes work of the West Virginia Film Office.

"We assisted with scouting locations, working with the city to close down roads because they needed to have control of a couple of areas during filmmaking," said former Film Office director Pam Haynes.

"We assisted with connecting with some local crew available for hire. We were pleased with that," said Haynes of the film, which is based on a memoir by Jeannette Walls about her harrowing childhood that included growing up in Welch.

But things have changed since the Film Office played that small, but essential role in the making of the nationally released film.

Haynes quit her role and returned to her previous job as a paralegal with a Charleston law firm after it became clear the West Virginia Legislature intended to cut the entire $341,000 budget for the office - founded in 1994 - in a cost-saving move. Legislators left in place a $5 million state film tax investment credit, intended to lure film and video productions to the state.

Many functions of the Film Office as a clearinghouse and guiding hand for film and video projects have since been absorbed by the Division of Tourism in the West Virginia Department of Commerce.

Chelsea Ruby, the commissioner of tourism, said her office is in the process of adapting to the new responsibilities that have been transferred to her staff.

"The Film Office is still open, but we are undergoing some restructuring due to the loss of funding for the office," she said.

Bill Hogan, a managing member of Image Associates LLC, a West Virginia-based advertising and media production house, spent many hours lobbying legislators about the significance of the Film Office's work. Cutting funding for the office was "penny-wise and pound foolish," he said.

"It was the dumbest move that could have been made. Myself and many other filmmakers expended endless energy, visited with virtually everybody on both bodies of our Legislature to convince them of that. Politics got in the way," he said.

Hogan said he has spoken with the Tourism Office about its new role in guiding film production in the state, which involves everything from location scouting to training in-instate film production crews, but he is concerned about the changed circumstances.

"I don't want to dismiss their efforts in trying to deal with something that has fallen in their laps. They are clearly trying to be proactive about maintaining the Film Office," he said. "But without a point person available it leaves not only producers, but the entire film community wondering who we can speak with."

There is no film commissioner or staff for the film commissioner, said Hogan.

"There is no Pam Haynes a producer can pick up the phone to speak to or a location manager when they're shopping for locations," he said. "We really have been used to great communication through a single funnel. There's no one who is experienced."

Ruby said members of the tourism staff are taking on Film Office duties.

"It's not necessarily that we're devoting specific people," she said. "What we're doing is cross-training and taking other folks in our office and incorporating film into their day-to-day duties."

She has met with other state tourism offices that run state film programs.

"Other states have done this very successfully, and we believe if we do this right, we'll be better positioned to tell West Virginia's story," Ruby said.

Some promotion of the Film Office is underway, she said, with a new website soon to launch and an exhibit planned at this year's American Film Market to promote shooting in the state.

"We continue to take the day-to-day calls of the office and administer the tax credit program," she said.

The Film Investment Tax Credit program offers up to $5 million in annual tax credits to production companies to encourage them to film in West Virginia.

A production company can earn a tax credit of 27 percent if it spends at least $25,000 in West Virginia. The credit goes up to 31 percent if the company hires 10 or more West Virginia residents as crew or talent during a shoot, a measure intended to help grow film production talent in the state.

A production company can then sell the tax credit to a West Virginia business or individual wishing to reduce corporate or individual tax burdens.

Since the Film Office's inception, a host of film, video, commercial and still-photography shoots have taken place in West Virginia, ranging from portions of high-profile productions such as "We Are Marshall" and the J.J. Abrams/Steven Spielberg film "Super 8," to five Stephen David Entertainment miniseries for AMC and other cable channels. There have been hundreds of other productions, including numerous projects by state businesses.

The tax credit program has been key to the decision of many in-state and out-of-state production companies to locate a project in the state.

The Film Office's 2016 annual report stated, from its enactment in July 2007 through December 2016, the Film Investment Tax Credit program has "spurred a large increase in business prospects that have spent more than $54 million in direct in-state expenditures, including wages, construction, fuel, transportation, airfare, lodging, heavy equipment rental and more."

Ruby noted, for the first time since the tax credit program's inception in 2007, all $5 million worth of tax credits were applied for in the 2016-17 fiscal year. Already in the new fiscal year, about $1.3 million in tax credits have been awarded, she said.

Despite cancellation of the Film Office budget, Ruby said the state's film production industry will carry on.

"West Virginia is a great location for film, and we're starting to make a name for ourselves as a state that welcomes film," she said. "We look forward to building on that reputation and welcoming new films to West Virginia."

That lovely bit of casting alone - Witherspoon and Bergen as daughter and mom - should have been enough to lift "Home Again," a debut from writer-director Hallie Meyers-Shyer, into at least the ranks of fairly entertaining, harmless guilty-pleasure rom-coms.

Instead, one is left marveling at how disappointingly inept it feels, from plot developments so obvious you see them coming 40 minutes ahead, to the gooey, lingering close-ups of characters laughing happily. What are they laughing about? Maybe there were lots of great private jokes flying around the set, because there aren't a lot of great ones in the script - save a few choice barbs from Bergen, and a very well-timed "Hamilton" joke.

Witherspoon is Alice, a recently separated mother of two who's returned to Los Angeles from New York, escaping a difficult marriage to a scruffily charming music mogul (Michael Sheen.) Luckily, she can move right into her childhood home - her huge, beautiful childhood home, with linens so soft they're a topic of conversation, and a sizable guest house.

Which is where the three guys come in. That would be Harry (Pico Alexander), his brother Teddy (Nat Wolff) and friend George (Jon Rudnitsky). They're budding 20-something filmmakers trying to get their movie produced, and they're a bit down on their luck.

Of course, this movie's version of being down on one's luck is a little different than in the rest of the world. It's not just that these guys somehow waltz into high-level meetings with agents and producers. It's that everyone here looks like they've grown up in a Ralph Lauren catalog. Now, plenty of movies have been made about well-off people without real-world problems. It's not a crime.

But takeout from Nobu? That may be pushing it.

Anyway, we digress. Alice, we learn, is the daughter of a late, well-known filmmaker. Mom Lilian (Bergen) was an actress. Dad didn't always treat her well, but Lilian has a great explanation for why she's not fussed: "He's gone now, so I won."

Would that Alice had her mother's sang-froid. We begin on her 40th birthday, and she's weeping into the mirror. Then she goes out and celebrates at a bar, where she and her tipsy friends meet Harry, Teddy and George. Drinking leads to dancing, to more drinks at Alice's home, to an aborted sexual encounter between Alice and Harry - aborted because Harry's throwing up.

You'd think Alice would wake up, do the laundry (which she does), and realize Harry isn't much of a catch. But soon all three guys have moved into the guest bungalow - their own Ralph Lauren frat house. And Alice starts sleeping with Harry - once he fixes her kitchen cabinet. "We shouldn't do this," she says, as they kiss. "But I fixed your cabinet," he says. Guys at home: that line may not always work for you.

The problem isn't even the unlikeliness that Harry would even know his way around a toolbox. It's that Harry is just so boring. We all want Alice to have fun; it's not his age that grates. It's his emptiness.

And then ex-husband Austen shows up. That's Austen-with-an-E, not Austin-with-an-I. And he says, "Let's fix this" (the marriage, not the cabinet). Alice has to make a decision.

Meanwhile, there's a very important school play. And this is what we mean by obvious developments, because in any rom-com with a school play, you can bet that someone isn't going to make it in time, and there are going to be shots of empty seats and anxious young faces. And yes, this is what happens.

We won't tell you how it turns out. We CAN divulge that there will be more lingering close-ups of people laughing. Again, what are they laughing about? If you can figure it out, let us know.

"Home Again," an Open Road release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America "for some thematic and sexual material." Running time: 97 minutes. Two stars out of four.

___

MPAA definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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Review: A few good scares can't hold 'It' togetherhttp://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170907/GZ0606/170909721
GZ0606http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170907/GZ0606/170909721Thu, 7 Sep 2017 12:58:22 -0400By Lindsey Bahr
The Associated Press
By By Lindsey Bahr
The Associated Press
Here's the good news: Pennywise is as creepy as ever in the new "It ." Thanks to a bigger budget and some improved special effects some 27 years later he really gets the chance to spook the kids of Derry, Maine.

Bill Skarsgard (Son of Stellan, brother of Alexander) has infused Stephen King's killer clown with a pathological menace that's more reminiscent of Heath Ledger's Joker than Tim Curry's goofily sadistic take on the character in the 1990s miniseries adaptation. It helps that he's gotten an upgraded makeup job and a more antiquated (and scarier) costume of 17th century ruffs and muted whites. His teeth are bigger, his hair is less cartoonish, his eyes are more yellow and his mobility has become terrifyingly kinetic.

Indeed, the new "It" goes all-out with the horror in Part One of the story, which is focused on the plight of a group of children in the 1980s who are haunted and hunted by a clown only they can see. Things that the miniseries only alluded to are depicted with merciless glee. Did you want to see a gang of bullies cutting a kid's stomach? "It" has that. Or witness a father looking lustily at his pre-teen daughter? "It" has that too.

The bad news is that "It" still doesn't add up to much.

Directed by Andy Muschietti, "It" is a deeply hateful film with the pretenses of being an edgy throwback genre mashup, a la "Stranger Things." One of the "Stranger Things" kids even has a part in "It": Finn Wolfhard plays the jokester Richie. The other kids just look like they might have been part of the Netflix series - Jaeden Lieberher as Bill, Sophia Lillis as Beverly, Chosen Jacobs as Mike, Jack Dylan Grazer as Eddie, Wyatt Oleff as Stanley and Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben.

But unlike, say, "Stranger Things," or horror films that lull you in with familiar circumstances before introducing the insane, there is nothing remotely relatable or realistic about this setting. This makes it especially hard to connect or engage with the tormented kids. Both the parents and bullies are like fun-home distortions of recognizably cruel humans.

With three credited screenwriters (Chase Palmer, Gary Dauberman and Cary Fukunaga, who was originally set to direct) the story is an unforgivable mess. Instead of building tension and suspense, "It" just jumps from scene to scares with no connection or coherence to thread them together other than the mere fact that they've been placed on top of one-another, like toys mixed up from different sets.

And yet "It" does have a few tricks up its Victorian ruff. The largely unknown kids of the losers club are good, with standout performances from Lieberher ("Midnight Special"), Taylor and Lillis with her perfectly '80s Kerri Green-vibe. And there are a few guaranteed jump-out-of-your-seat moments, including the flawlessly rendered opening with Georgie, the toy boat and the sewer that has continued to haunt generations of kids who either read King's book or caught the now cheesy looking miniseries on TV too young.

With the R-rating, you do have to wonder who this "It" is really for - the now-grown kids of the '80s and '90s who were traumatized the first time around and can't get enough of their own nostalgia? Or is it just a dare for the under-17 crowd, who are more likely to forgive the story flaws and just submit to the scares?

Like so many movies now, "It" is an intentionally incomplete tale - a story-setting teaser for what's to come in Part Two. Maybe by the time that comes out the kids who snuck in to this "It" will be old enough to harbor their own wistfulness for the first they saw Pennywise. And then there's the scarier thought: Will the cycle just continue until we're all floating endlessly in our own nostalgia?

"It," a Warner Bros. release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for "violence/horror, bloody images, and for language." Running time: 135 minutes. Two stars out of four.

"HOME AGAIN": Life for a single mom in Los Angeles takes an unexpected turn when she allows three young guys to move in with her. Rated PG-13. M, N, PP.

"IT": A group of bullied kids band together when a monster, taking the appearance of a clown, begins hunting children. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"TULIP FEVER": Not yet ranked. In 17th Century Amsterdam, an orphaned girl (Alicia Vikander) is forcibly married to a rich and powerful merchant (Christoph Waltz) - an unhappy "arrangement" that saves her from poverty. After her husband commissions a portrait, she begins a passionate affair with the painter (Dane DeHaan). Seeking to escape the merchant, the lovers risk everything and enter the frenzied tulip bulb market, with the hope that the right bulb will make a fortune and buy their freedom. Rated R. M.

"ALL SAINTS": Based on the inspiring true story of salesman-turned-pastor Michael Spurlock (John Corbett), the tiny church he was ordered to shut down, and a group of refugees from Southeast Asia. Together, they risked everything to plant seeds for a future that might just save them all. Rated PG. M, N.

"LEAP": A one year experiment seeks to discover whether coaching can help ordinary people achieve extraordinary things. Rated PG. M, N, PP.

"WIND RIVER": An FBI agent teams with a town's veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"BABY DRIVER": HHHH After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail. Rated R. TV.

"WONDER WOMAN": HHHH Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained warrior. When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, she leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny. Rated PG-13. N.

"BIRTH OF THE DRAGON": HH Set against the backdrop of 1960s San Francisco, a modern take on the classic movies that Bruce Lee was known for. It takes its inspiration from the epic and still controversial showdown between an up-and-coming Bruce Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man - a battle that gave birth to a legend. Rated PG-13. PP.

The world's top bodyguard gets a new client, a hit man who must testify at the International Court of Justice. They must put their differences aside and work together to make it to the trial on time. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

Two brothers attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina. Rated PG-13. M, N, PP, TV.

"ANNABELLE: CREATION": HHH Several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the dollmaker's possessed creation, Annabelle. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"THE GLASS CASTLE":HHHH A young girl comes of age in a dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads with a mother who's an eccentric artist and an alcoholic father who would stir the children's imagination with hope as a distraction to their poverty. Rated PG-13. M, PP.

"THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE":HHH Following the events of the first film, Surly and his friends must stop Oakton City's mayor from destroying their home to make way for a dysfunctional amusement park. Rated PG. M, TV.

"THE DARK TOWER": HHH1/2 The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim, also known as the Man in Black, determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black. Rated PG-13. TV.

"THE EMOJI MOVIE": HHH Gene, a multi-expressional emoji, sets out on a journey to become a normal emoji. Rated PG. M, PP, TV.

"DUNKIRK": HHHH1/2 Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II. Rated PG-13. TV.

"GIRLS TRIP":HHH When four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival, sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are rediscovered and there's enough dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing to make the Big Easy blush. Rated R. N.

"WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES": HHHH After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. Rated PG-13. N.

"SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING": HHHH Several months after the events of "Captain America: Civil War," Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens while fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges. Rated PG-13. N, PP, TV.

"DESPICABLE ME 3": HHHGru meets his long-lost charming, cheerful and more successful twin brother, Dru, who wants to team up with him for one last criminal heist. Rated PG. TV.

Per capita, a higher percentage of West Virginians served and died in the Vietnam War than any other state, notes Suzanne Higgins, who has written and produced the one-hour documentary "Vietnam: West Virginians Remember."

The documentary will air on West Virginia Public Broadcasting at 8 p.m. Sept. 14, with encore presentations at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 and 24, along with public screenings across the state starting this week (see below).

The documentary coincides with the national release of "The Vietnam War," a 10-part, 18-hour documentary film series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, set to premiere on public broadcasting Sept. 17.

"Vietnam: West Virginians Remember" considers the history and toll of the war on the state seen through the eyes of five veterans approximately 50 years after their service. It examines their lives before the war and their reflections on the impact of their wartime service on the rest of their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

According to the West Virginia Encyclopedia, 36,578 West Virginians served in the Vietnam War with 1,182 killed, which was a higher death rate per 10,000 citizens than other states.

"West Virginians served the most and died the most in Vietnam," said Higgins. "So, the scars from that war are felt most profoundly here. There are thousands of these gentlemen still with us. And only recently are Vietnam veterans opening up and sharing their experiences and the impact of their service."

The documentary makes the point that everyone had their own perspective on the war, she added.

"I point that out in the film. Everyone's perspective and experience is unique. But there were common themes."

Not everyone felt disillusioned and disengaged afterwards, said Higgins. "But many did."

What she found was that it depended on your assignment, she said.

"Only a fraction were out front under fire the majority of their tour. Many were stationed back on base, had other supporting and very vital assignments, but weren't out in front with an assignment to draw enemy fire."

The combat solder's assignment was to attract enemy fire and then a radio operator would call in for air support, she said.

"That kind of stress, tension, walking in jungles that are booby trapped, that are riddled with tunnels where the enemy just disappears - that plays havoc on your psyche. That leaves scars," she said.

"And we have to remember the average age of the infantryman - the guy out front - was 19," Higgins said. "Teenagers."

We now know a lot about the development of the brain, she said. "We're not fully formed until our mid-20s in terms of the human brain - that's significant trauma."

Among the servicemen profiled in the documentary and their years of service are: Dave Evans, U.S. Marine Corps, 1969 -1971; Mossie Wright, U.S Army, 1969-1970; Lou Nutter, U.S. Army, 1971-1972; Paul Casto, U.S. Marine Corps, 1967-1969; Stephen Coonts, U.S. Navy, Vietnam 1969 - 1971; and Ed Rabel, a CBS News war correspondent, who grew up in St. Albans.

Coonts, a Navy fighter pilot, went on to become a best-selling author. His breakout book, "Flight of the Intruder," was a New York Times best-selling novel inspired by his service in Vietnam.

"It was more than just a flying story," Coonts says in the documentary. "It was a story about Vietnam. Not the politics. The way it affected the servicemen I knew. People are dying and we're screwing around and we're not trying to win the war. And until we win the war, we're stuck in this meat grinder. We're just grinding people up."

Dave Evans lost both his legs after encountering an explosive booby-trap along a rice paddy dike, while on assignment to retrieve the bodies of two helicopter pilots.

Evans has spent the last 30 years traveling to war-torn countries, fitting victims of war with prosthetic limbs.

"I went there (Vietnam) wanting to defend the Constitution and I believe my activity in the anti-war movement when I returned was also in defense of the U.S. Constitution," Evans told Higgins.

"When you send an 18-year-old kid to war and they cross that bridge from peacetime into wartime, there's no way they ever come back. There's no way. That bridge is burnt. You've changed forever."

For Higgins, "Vietnam: West Virginians Remember" was a chance to do what West Virgina Public Broadcasting has long seen as part of its mission.

"We tell West Virginia's story. Oral histories are incredibly important to us as a network. We feel that is part of our mission - to preserve the oral history of our state. And this is a significant one."

nnn

"Vietnam: West Virginians Remember" will be screened at the following locations:

n Tamarack: Sept 10, 6 p.m.

Governor Hulett C. Smith Theater.

Contact: Robby Moore 304-256-6708

n Shepherd University, Shepherdstown

Sept. 11, 7 p.m.

Reynolds Hall. Screening, panel discussion, refreshments.

Contact: Karen Rice at 304-876-5134

n Vienna Public Library

Sept. 11, 6 p.m.

2300 River Road, Vienna, W.Va.

Contact: Kaity Eaton, 304-295-7771

n Shady Spring Library

Sept. 11, 11 a.m.

440 Flat Top Road, Shady Spring, W.Va.

Contact: Lesley Peck: 304-763-2681

n Marshall University

Sept. 12, 6:30 p.m.

Joan C. Edwards Theater.

With a panel discussion and audience comments, moderated by Marshall's history department.

n Burnsville Library

Sept. 12, 6 p.m.

235 Kanawha Ave., Burnsville W.Va.

Contact: Beth Anderson: 304-853-2338

n Bluefield Performing Arts Center

Sept. 14, 6:30 p.m.

Bluefield High School, 535 West Cumberland Road, Bluefield.

Contact: Steve Hopta, 304-320-1572

n Concord University

Sept. 15, 2 p.m.

Concord's Fine Arts Theater, Athens, W.Va.

Contact: Chuck Elliott, 304-384-5334

n WVU-Parkersburg

Sept. 21, 6 p.m.

WVU-P College Activities Center

Contact: Jeff Olson 304-549-4599

Will include a panel discussion with college representatives and local veterans.

n WVU Libraries

Sept. 27, 4 p.m.

Mountainlair Gluck Theater, 1549 University Ave, Morgantown, W.Va.

Contact: Danielle Emerling, 304-293-2574.

Will include a round-table discussion with WVU faculty members and Suzanne Higgins, documentary producer.

n Brooke County Library

Sept. 29, Noon

945 Main Street, Wellsburg, W.Va. 26070.

Contact Alex Eberle: alex.eberle@weirton.lib.wv.us

Popcorn will be served.

n Ohio County Public Library

Nov. 10, 7 p.m.

52 16th Street, Wheeling, W.Va.

Contact: Erin Rothenbueler: 304-232-0244

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National hunting-themed film tour comes to Charleston Fridayhttp://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170904/GZ01/170909854
GZ01http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170904/GZ01/170909854Mon, 4 Sep 2017 16:33:14 -0400 John McCoy
By John McCoy
If West Virginia isn't the "hunting-est" state in the union, it's certainly close.

That's why a group of Mountain State hunters decided to bring the National Hunting Film Tour to the Mountain State. The 2 1/2-hour film festival, which features hunting-themed short subjects, will have a public screening Friday at the University of Charleston's Geary Auditorium.

"These films employ a cinematic approach, documentary-style," said Kevin Adkins, a spokesman for Appalachian Range, the group hosting the event. "The cinematography is outstanding."

The films take viewers along on hunts for red stag, waterfowl, Dall sheep, wild turkey and bear, among others. One of them, titled "Best Laid Plans," features Charleston lawyer Bobby Warner and friends on an elk hunt in the southern Rocky Mountains.

In addition to the films associated with the tour, the organizers also plan to show "The Story of Mac," an Appalachian Range-produced film about a West Virginia hunter's multi-year pursuit of a specific Logan County trophy buck.

Appalachian Range is a group of Mountain State sportsmen who seek to draw attention to hunting, fishing and outdoor adventure in West Virginia and throughout the Appalachians.

Adkins said the Hunting Film Tour fits closely with his organization's philosophy.

"Our core message is to bring sportsmen closer together," he explained. "We want to bring really cool stuff to the state as much as we can, to offer outdoorsmen new experiences if we can. We're taking that on, full-swing."

Outdoor enthusiasts who attend the festival will have an opportunity to win prizes and to be entered in a nationwide sweepstakes.

"Some of our sponsors have donated some really nice gear, and we'll have drawings for those items during the event," Adkins said. "Everyone who comes will be able to enter the Film Tour's sweepstakes."

The sweepstakes' grand prize includes a Kimber Mountain Ascent rifle, a pair of Kenetrek Mountain Extreme boots, a YETI cooler, a pair of Vortex 10x42 Razor HD binoculars, an outfit of Sitka Gear hunting clothing, a membership in the Boone & Crockett Club and a gift certificate with a value of $1,000 Canadian.

In addition to the film-screening room, a separate room will house displays by local outdoor retailers and conservation organizations.

The list of conservation organizations includes Ducks Unlimited, the National Wild Turkey Federation, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the West Virginia Bowhunters Association.

Doors to the show will open between 5 and 6 p.m., and the films will begin at 7 p.m. sharp. Admission is $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Tickets are available online at https://events.ticketprinting.com/event/24547, or at the following local retailers: Real Deal Outdoors, Addington's Bowhunter Shop, Lucky's Outdoors and McFly Outdoors.

Reach John McCoy at johnmccoy@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1231, or follow @GazMailOutdoors on Twitter.

Harley Quinn is now a movie star ("Suicide Squad"), soon to be starring in her own movie ("Gotham City Sirens") and one of the most popular characters in the pages of DC Comics, where she appears in multiple series, including her own.

But it was "Batman: The Animated Series" where she appeared for the first time, and it is that animated universe where "Batman and Harley Quinn" (available now on 4K, Blu-ray and digitally) takes place. Her equal billing in the movie's title shows how far Harley has come since her cartoon beginnings, and she gives the story some dark and sexy moments, since she's not confined to after-school rules of animated television.

The movie serves as a reunion of sorts, as Batman and Nightwing (who was a teenage Robin the Boy Wonder when BTAS began in the early '90s and is now an adult) are forced to work together with Harley to stop Poison Ivy and the Floronic Man from turning every living thing on Earth into a plant.

There are certain elements that just have to be there for a BTAS story to work, and they're all there. Bruce Timm, one of BTAS's key creators during the show's original run on television and Harley Quinn's co-creator, is a producer on this movie. The classic BTAS animated style, cartoony but dark, featuring a square-jawed Batman with backward-pointing ears on his cowl, is there.

Perhaps most important are the voice actors. There is no way you can have a BTAS story without the talents of Kevin Conroy (Batman) and Loren Lester (Nightwing). This dynamic vocal duo is the heart of BTAS. Arleen Sorkin (the original animated voice of Harley Quinn) isn't around this time, but Melissa Rauch provides her best high-pitched, take-no-nonsense Brooklyn accent as Harley. This is the first notable WB/DC animated release since the retirement of legendary voice director Andrea Romano, but casting and voice director Wes Gleason steps in and makes sure this new take on a beloved universe sounds the way its supposed to.

That new take involves making this universe a bit more naughty. BTAS was always a show both kids and adults could enjoy during its television run, but it existed in a strictly PG world. "Batman and Harley Quinn" is rated PG-13 and the producers take that rating as far as they can go with it. Not to say we haven't seen DC's animated movies enter R-rated territory, which "Justice League Dark" and "The Killing Joke" did recently. But there's something about this particular animated world operating at a more adult pace, in terms of actions and dialogue, that feels a little shocking at times to watch.

There's sex (you don't see it, but you know it happens), dark and dirty humor, plenty of all the bad words a PG-13 rating allows, most of them coming from Harley Quinn. And Harley and Ivy's more-than-friends relationship is hinted at a lot more strongly than it ever was on BTAS.

Timm and his collaborators realized that any new BTAS movie would just feel like another episode of the original show if chances weren't taken. A wild card character like Harley Quinn provided the opportunity to kick up the maturity a notch.

"Batman and Harley Quinn" feels like a thank you and a sly wink to the audience that made BTAS a part of their childhoods and who are now adults. There's enough here for old and new fans of this universe, and hopefully this isn't the last time WB/DC lets this Batman world stay up a little later.

"TULIP FEVER": Not yet ranked. In 17th Century Amsterdam, an orphaned girl (Alicia Vikander) is forcibly married to a rich and powerful merchant (Christoph Waltz) - an unhappy "arrangement" that saves her from poverty. After her husband commissions a portrait, she begins a passionate affair with the painter (Dane DeHaan). Seeking to escape the merchant, the lovers risk everything and enter the frenzied tulip bulb market, with the hope that the right bulb will make a fortune and buy their freedom. Rated R. M.

"CARS 3": Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game, he will need the help of an eager young race technician, Cruz Ramirez (voice of Cristela Alonzo), with her own plan to win. M. N.

"THE BIG SICK": Based on a real-life courtship of Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, the film tells the story of Pakistan-born aspiring comedian Kumail (Nanjiani), who connects with grad student Emily (Kazan) after one of his standup sets. A one-night stand blossoms into the real thing, which complicates the life expected of Kumail by his traditional Muslim parents. When Emily is beset with a mystery illness, Kumail must navigate the medical crisis with her parents (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano) who he's never met, while dealing with the emotional tug-of-war between his family and his heart. Rated R. M.

"ALL SAINTS": Based on the inspiring true story of salesman-turned-pastor Michael Spurlock (John Corbett), the tiny church he was ordered to shut down, and a group of refugees from Southeast Asia. Together, they risked everything to plant seeds for a future that might just save them all. Rated PG. M, N.

"LEAP": A one year experiment seeks to discover whether coaching can help ordinary people achieve extraordinary things. Rated PG. M, N, PP.

"WIND RIVER": An FBI agent teams with a town's veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation. Rated R. M, PP.

"BABY DRIVER": HHHH After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail. Rated R. M, PP, TV.

"WONDER WOMAN": HHHH Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained warrior. When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, she leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny. Rated PG-13. N.

"BIRTH OF THE DRAGON": HH Set against the backdrop of 1960s San Francisco, a modern take on the classic movies that Bruce Lee was known for. It takes its inspiration from the epic and still controversial showdown between an up-and-coming Bruce Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man - a battle that gave birth to a legend. Rated PG-13. PP.

The world's top bodyguard gets a new client, a hit man who must testify at the International Court of Justice. They must put their differences aside and work together to make it to the trial on time. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

Two brothers attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina. Rated PG-13. M, N, PP, TV.

"ANNABELLE: CREATION": HHH Several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the dollmaker's possessed creation, Annabelle. Rated R. M, N, PP, TV.

"THE GLASS CASTLE":HHHH A young girl comes of age in a dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads with a mother who's an eccentric artist and an alcoholic father who would stir the children's imagination with hope as a distraction to their poverty. Rated PG-13. M.

"THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE":HHH Following the events of the first film, Surly and his friends must stop Oakton City's mayor from destroying their home to make way for a dysfunctional amusement park. Rated PG. M, PP, TV.

"THE DARK TOWER": HHH1/2 The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim, also known as the Man in Black, determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black. Rated PG-13. N, PP, TV.

"THE EMOJI MOVIE": HHH Gene, a multi-expressional emoji, sets out on a journey to become a normal emoji. Rated PG. M, N, PP, TV.

"DUNKIRK": HHHH1/2 Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II. Rated PG-13. M, N, PP, TV.

"GIRLS TRIP":HHH When four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival, sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are rediscovered and there's enough dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing to make the Big Easy blush. Rated R. N.

"WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES": HHHH After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. Rated PG-13. N.

"SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING": HHHH Several months after the events of "Captain America: Civil War," Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens while fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges. Rated PG-13. N, PP, TV.

"DESPICABLE ME 3": HHHGru meets his long-lost charming, cheerful and more successful twin brother, Dru, who wants to team up with him for one last criminal heist. Rated PG. TV.

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Underground Cinema adding two additional movie nightshttp://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170830/GZ06/170839954
GZ06http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170830/GZ06/170839954Wed, 30 Aug 2017 20:57:20 -0400 Bill Lynch
By Bill Lynch
Aside from the recent theft of their projector, it's been a pretty good first year for the West Virginia International Film Festival's Underground Cinema.

Since the micro-movie house opened in February, the Underground Cinema has shared foreign and independent films with audiences in Charleston Friday and Saturday nights.

Things have gone so well, WVIFF president Emmett Pepper said the Underground Cinema is expanding.

"We're going to be adding a Monday night movie and a Thursday night movie," he said.

These two additional nights will be different than the regular weekend feature.

Monday nights, the Underground Cinema will show "Movies that Matter," films chosen in conjunction with area nonprofit organizations relating to their mission.

During festivals, the WVIFF has partnered with different groups to show issue-oriented films and host follow-up discussions. This is an expansion of that idea, with a new nonprofit partnering with the cinema each month and holding a conversation with the audience after the first showing.

Thursday nights, with a nod to 1990s television, it's "Must See Cinema."

Each month, a guest curator will select a film with special meaning to them. The curators will introduce the film and host a discussion afterwards.

"We wanted people to pick films they have a strong connection to, that they can talk passionately about," Pepper said. "We wanted to do something more than somebody picks a film and then we all just watch it."

"Mountain Stage" host Larry Groce will kick off the series and host the first film, "Dr. Strangelove," Thursday, September 7.

Among the future film curators for the series are Lance Wheeler, vice-president of the Kanawha County Republican Party (October), Reproductive Justice advocate Caitlin Gaffin (November) and artist, entrepreneur and activist Crystal Good (December).

Pepper said the Underground Cinema was interested in working with people from different walks of life with a range of viewpoints.

As with the weekend showings, each film will be shown all month long at the Underground Cinema.

Pepper explained, "It takes some time to make our money back when you have a 30-seat theater. You need to show a movie multiple times to cover the costs for screen fees."

While it's been around for about six months, the Underground Cinema is still growing, still changing, Pepper said.

In the coming months, he said they hoped to upgrade the movie house's sound system, paint the ceiling and install curtains beside the screen.

"We're always trying to make it a more pleasant experience for everyone," Pepper said.

Mondays: "Delores"

Thursdays: "Dr. Strangelove"

Fridays and Saturdays: "Columbus"

Reach Bill Lynch at lynch@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5195 or follow @LostHwys on Twitter. Follow Bill's One Month At A Time progress on his blog at blogs.wvgazettemail.com/onemonth/. He's also on Instagram at instagram.com/billiscap/

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Review: Netflix's 'Death Note' gets lost in translationhttp://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170824/GZ0606/170829800
GZ0606http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20170824/GZ0606/170829800Thu, 24 Aug 2017 15:19:35 -0400By Mark Kennedy
The Associated Press
By By Mark Kennedy
The Associated Press
When "Death Note" begins, we learn that Seattle teenager Light Turner has a crush on a cheerleader at his high school. So when these two would-be lovebirds finally talk for the first time and really open up to each other, Turner has to be honest: "It's going to sound a little crazy," he tells her, "but I have a death god."

Well, not to be too judgy, but, yeah, that actually does sound a little crazy. Even so, our hero manages to get his companion intrigued and not make a swift exit to calculus. If you don't have your own death god, you might also want to check out "Death Note" - until you tap out about three-quarters in and run off to calculus.

The film , a live-action adaptation of the popular Japanese manga-turned-anime, is about a supernatural notebook that gives the owner the power to kill anyone they like. All they have to do is write the name of someone while picturing his or her face. (There are dozens more rules, of course, but who bothers to really read instruction booklets anyway?)

The book, which appears literally out of the sky, comes with its own demon and that turns out to be a 9-foot-tall dude with glowing red eyes, spiky hair and a penchant for eating apples. He has the chilling, unhinged voice of Willem Dafoe, which makes him extra creepy. (Forget apples, Dafoe's gnawing on the scenery).

The original manga - conceived and written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata - has already been turned into a 12-volume book series, a TV series and even a stage musical, among other properties. This time, it's directed by Adam Wingard and the story has been moved to Seattle. The hero (Light Yagami) is now a super-bright, loner (Light Turner), played by Nat Wolff, trying to keep some sort of acting realism in a film that gets gradually unmoored from reality (as films with apple-eating demons tend to do.)

Turner teams up with the cheerleader (Margaret Qualley, who is pretty terrific as she unwinds her inner crazy) to mete out final punishments, first to high school bullies, then going wider to terrorists, drug dealers, serial molesters and gang members. "We can change the world," they claim, giddy after 400 deaths.

Not everyone is happy with the sudden slayings of the world's worst people, especially Turner's cop dad and a mysterious and quirky freelance detective (Lakeith Stanfield, whose unsubtle performance has unfortunately been inspired a little too much by comics). They go hunting for whoever is putting them out of business.

The reason "Death Note" is so popular is that it raises tough philosophical questions - Who deserves death? How do you determine guilt? What crime calls out for instant karma? Put aside the demon, and those questions are timely in an era of drone strikes and debates over collateral damage.

But this thriller-inclined version of "Death Note" doesn't dwell enough on such questions and instead becomes increasingly strained by its own insanity and clogged by clunky dialogue. Taking its time to establish characters, it then rushes headlong into a montage of bodies piling up, a cat-and-mouse chase, stunts worthy of 007 and ends as a twisted love affair with shades of "Macbeth." It's tried to cram in too much and be too many things.

Aside from great visual effects, basic stuff gets weird, like a swarm of FBI agents who are tracking a crucial suspect not bothering to listen in or trace his cellphone. These same top-notch feds also get confused by who exactly is wearing a top hat. The film's use of cheesy songs by Air Supply and Berlin doesn't help, either.

Netflix has faced criticism for the Westernization - or "whitewashing" - of the original material, only a few months after Paramount Pictures suffered a flop with its "Ghost in the Shell" with Scarlett Johansson, who stepped into another cherished Japanese title. But the biggest problem with "Death Note" is maybe that the filmmakers this time simply didn't get enough notes - or too many.